ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Turkmenistan's president has announced new prices for natural gas, ending the longstanding free supply to citizens in the energy-rich Central Asian nation.

President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said in a resolution published in the official government newspaper on Saturday that each person would still be allowed up to 50 cubic meters of gas for free, but anything over that amount would cost $7 per thousand cubic meters.

Urban residents who primarily use gas for cooking are unlikely to be significantly affected. But people living in rural areas, who use gas to heat greenhouses or barns for livestock, may feel the changes more dramatically.

The predominantly Muslim nation of five million is estimated to have the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves. Gas, electricity and water have been supplied free to households since 1993.